Buccaneers keep Cameron Brate on six-year, $40.8 million deal

The Buccaneers used a first-round pick on a tight end from Alabama a year ago. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want the undrafted tight end they signed out of Harvard four years ago.

PFT has confirmed that the Bucs have signed Cameron Brate to a six-year, $40.8 million contract. Of that amount, $18 million is guaranteed. (It’s unclear how much of it is guaranteed fully at signing.)

Up to $4.5 million is available for catches, touchdowns, and Pro Bowl appearances. Those amounts (the triggers are 65 catches and 10 touchdowns) apply over and above the base value of $40.8 million.

Brate emerged in 2016, with 57 catches for 660 yards and eight touchdowns. Last season, he 48 passes for 591 yards and six scores.

The contract comes only days after the Bucs extended by five years the contract of receiver Mike Evans, giving him a new-money average of $16.5 million and a total value of $15.9 million per year. The decision to keep Brate at an average of nearly $7 million per year will serve only to raise questions about the team’s plans for receiver DeSean Jackson, who was signed a year ago.